LETTERS TO THE EDITOR: CONSIDER THE SHEPERS' PAIN

To the Editor:

I read, in amazement, the first page account of Mr. Roll's "personal pain and sacrifice" that led to street drugs, and eventually murder. My amazement was not because the story broke my heart. I was amazed that Mr. Roll and his attorney would have the gall to offer us this as an excuse for cold-blooded crimes.

Where was the wheelchair that night in August when Mr. Roll stormed into the Scheper home with his partners in crime after cutting the telephone lines? Are we to believe that he rolled the wheelchair up all those concrete steps to participate in the robbery and murder of a seventeen year old boy, a retarded young man with cerebral palsy, and a small woman who couldn't have been much over five feet tall?

Let's talk about this thing called pain. It says here that Mr. Roll suffered a badly botched surgery that has left him in pain since 1977. If this caused him the kind of pain portrayed to the court, then this would be a tragedy, no argument here.

For this kind of pain, I am sure a doctor would prescribe some pretty powerful prescription drugs, but Mr. Roll says they just weren't good enough. So he says he turned to street drugs for relief. This wasn't just your everyday street drug abuse -- and it wasn't his fault. He simply had no choice.

That's bull.

Does Mr. Roll think he's the only person who's had to suffer pain? Let me assure him, he's not.

Why doesn't he tell us about the pain of Curtis Scheper? He's the retarded boy who crawled down those concrete steps over to a neighbor's house after being stabbed in the chest several times, and after seeing his precious mother's bloody, lifeless body laying on the dining room floor. What was going on in his child's mind? Curtis's life was not easy. All he wanted in the world was to watch his movie collection and collect his toys. His life dreams never got a start.

Is Mr. Roll's implied self-defense motive in the killing of Randy Scheper supposed to validate him being in his bedroom that night with a gun and a knife committing robbery and murder? Too bad Randy didn't really have a gun. I sure wish he had! Then maybe Sherry Scheper wouldn't have had to watch and hear her children die. And maybe this decent, kind woman, who was the hardest working and most devoted mother I have ever met, would still be with us today.

Can Mr. Roll tell us about her pain? He was there. Did she beg for her life or fight like a tiger? Anyone that knew Sherry knows she fought for her children in spite of the pain put on her. Mr. Roll picked her up off the floor and pistol-whipped her face and head. Are we to believe he simply had no choice?

No, Mr. Roll made his choices.

God knows Mr. Roll had plenty of time to get help for himself. He could have made that choice all these years, and he could have changed. But instead he chose to put a whole family out in the cold ground in a cemetery next to a beautiful living park. Why should Mr. Roll stay in the park while they lay in the cold ground, side by side?

God is a merciful God, but he is also a just God. I pray that Mr. Roll comes clean to Him, because he does love him, and we can't fool him anyway. Each human being must take responsibility for his own actions.

How can anyone argue that the death penalty isn't a deterrent to crime? Don't waste our time with statistics because those numbers mean nothing in a country where criminals know they won't be punished. The truth is, we don't have justice or deterrents in this country because robbers, killers, rapists and child molesters (if they don't use the law to avoid conviction) are out of prison in a short time for various frivolous reasons. They know they won't have to pay!

If punishment is not a deterrent, then why are we risking our police officers' lives, wasting our time, and billions of tax dollars trying to catch and convict killers?

The truth is criminals aren't punished anymore. Period. The truth is, 30 years ago these kinds of crimes were the rare exception or even unheard of because criminals were put to death for their crimes or punished appropriately. There was actually fear of really being punished for your crimes. Imagine that! A criminal having some fear! Kind of hard to imagine in the '90s.

The truth is, lethal injection is too good for some of these criminals, and any killer who was the excuse that he lives in so much constant pain that he must brutally murder the most innocent and helpless among us for drugs should welcome such a quick and painless way out.

Now, doesn't that sound like a cold, hard statement? But don't forget the cold, hard facts of these crimes -- let's not confuse the criminals with the victims here. The real victims cannot talk. They cannot walk. They would be glad to live with a broken jaw or a busted foot rather than the painful, terrifying execution they received.

I'll save my tears for Tammy Scheper, who is still broken by this, and probably always will be. I'll save my concern for the police officers and their families who have lost their lives and dreams defending us.

There are those who will sit outside in the rain at night lighting candles for murderers who rightly lose their life in the name of justice.

Where are the candlelighters on 31 Henderson Street?

America, wake up.

S.L. Ressel

Cape Girardeau